Saturday proved to be an ugly night for the NHL playoffs. Game 2 between Ottawa and New York saw a pair of ugly incidents, one involving Matt Carkner another with Carl Hagelin, while Game 2 between Chicago and Phoenix saw Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw go barreling through Coyotes goalie Mike Smith.

Shaw’s hit on Smith, meanwhile, looked terrifying at the time as Smith was laid out on the ice with an apparent head injury. Smith wound up staying in the game and finishing it out while Shaw was given a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. The debate whether it was gamesmanship by Smith or poor injury handling by the Coyotes staff will rage on from here.

Shanahan’s had his hands full already in the postseason giving a two-game suspension to Canucks forward Byron Bitz for a hit from behind on Kyle Clifford while letting Predators defenseman Shea Weber slide with a fine for delivering a wrestling-like head shot of his own to Henrik Zetterberg.

Safe to say Shanahan can’t afford to let too many guys off the hook as players appear to be acting out more recklessly and if anyone’s got to worry about serving time, it’s Carkner and Hagelin.

why would hagelin be suspended? the hit on alfreddson was identical to Phillips hit on callahan. It was a high hit, but suspension? Plus they will look at his history, thats not his game.
if weber isnt suspended, no one will be

yeah, where’s the hearing for Phillips? Clearly the worst hit of the night, targeted the head, made worse by Cally being on the boards. Wasn’t the league trying to stop the head shots?

sbs0311 - Apr 15, 2012 at 12:44 PM

If Hagelin got one game, I could understand that. Carkner should probably get 5. It was a premeditated jumping of a player. That cannot be tolerated. If you want come back at Boyle, you either go after him after he goes after or jabs someone else (like Boyle DID to Karlsson, it wasn’t unprovoked), or you do what Chris Neil did and start a legit fight.

Carkner’s move was disgusting, and Shanahan is a disgrace if he lets it slide.

stlmetsfan5 - Apr 15, 2012 at 1:00 PM

What about that goon on the Sharks that elbowed McDonald in the head? You can’t tell me that doesn’t deserve at least a look by Shanny. If he doesn’t he’s a fraud.

No way, and I am definitely not a senators fan. Whats the difference in what Carkner did then what Bertuzzi did, other than the fact that Weber was man enough to fight back while Boyles turtled? If Carkner gets suspended then anybody that sticks up for another player will have to be suspended too.
Can’t help it that Boyles only goes after little guys (Karlson).

hockinj25 - Apr 15, 2012 at 1:51 PM

Bertuzzi didn’t keep swinging when Weber was down. Also, what Weber did to Z was a lot worse than what Boyle did to Karlson.

Carkner didn’t ask Boyle to fight – he sucker punched him and then started pummeling him. Bert grabbed Weber, they looked at each other, and dropped the gloves. There’s a big difference.

jaybyrd99 - Apr 15, 2012 at 1:15 PM

Cally was elbowed in the head in a near identical hit that Hagelin delivered . Why was that not a 5 min major and a league hearing . Neither hit was right, but the major inconsistencies of the refs and the league is absolutely mind numbing.

Boyle took liberties and Carkner paid him back. I can’t believe Boyle turtles like that! Carlene gets a fine. Hagelin gets 2 games. Bitz wasn’t a repeat offender either so the president has been set. Phillips should be suspended too but because Callahan walked away unhurt he will get nothing. What a nasty game!

Multiple Bruins need to be suspended for going after Nick Backstrom’s head. He just came back from a concussion and he’s clearly being targeted. Tim Thomas flat out punched him in the head during play, and there were about 6 other examples including a head-lock take down to the ice during the play that could have resulted in serious injury and wasn’t even called a penalty during the game.

Shanahan you incompetent boob! watching Philly and Pittsburgh right now and I’ve never seen playoff hockey so out of control. Every play there is a scrum. This entire post season has been this way and were only 3 games in per series.

While the first games were chippy i still think his judgement has everyone believing there will be no suspension so it has to be dealt with immediately on the ice.

I love rough and tough hockey with an occasional fight but this goonish!

What you see right now is the direct result of the way discipline has been handled over the past couple of years. Every team in the league saw how Boston won last year with a blind eye turned to all their crap. So everybody seems to be trying it.

Congrats to Colin and Brendan for encouraging the goons at the expense of skill and good tough hockey.